Jim Herman said all of his memories are good when he returns to Columbus to play the Ohio State
Scarlet Course.

“I won the high-school (team) state championship here with St. Xavier,” the Cincinnati native
said.

He could add to his trove this weekend.

Having to requalify for the PGA Tour after he failed to retain his exempt status this season,
Herman did not help himself much with two small checks in the first two legs of the Web.com Tour
Finals, the new four-tournament qualifying series that will reward 25 players with PGA Tour cards
for next season.

But Herman started the third leg yesterday with a 7-under-par 64 at Scarlet to take the
clubhouse lead in the rain-delayed first round of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Championship.

“Love it up here,” he said. “If I can’t be in Cincinnati, it’s not bad being in Columbus. All
the family can make their way up. I had about 12 to 15 family and friends out watching today.”

Sean O’Hair, another PGA Tour player who lost his status this year, shot 66 and shared second
place with Danny Lee, who birdied his final hole after darkness suspended play for the day at 7:40
p.m. The first round will resume at 7:45 a.m. today, with the second round to follow at 8:40
a.m.

The first round was interrupted for 3 hours, 7 minutes by morning thunderstorms that caused
officials to implement the lift, clean and place rule. Play resumed at 11:30 a.m. The final groups
in the 129-player field did not tee off until 5:20 p.m.

Herman hit only his tee shot on the first hole before the horn sounded suspending play at 8:30 a
.m. Three hours later, he stuck a 9-iron shot 10 feet from the pin to set up the first of his seven
birdies.

“A nice way to come out of the break,” he said. “I just kept going from there.”

Herman has had it going for a few months.

He missed eight of his first 10 cuts this year. But after a one-week detour to the Web.com Tour
and a tie for 15th, he reversed course. He made eight of his past nine cuts to move from outside
the top 200 on the money list to 137th when the regular season ended.

“The tale of two years,” he said. “I had some negative momentum going and just couldn’t get rid
of it. It’s all momentum out here … and when you’re playing well, you want to capitalize. So see if
we can keep it going.”

O’Hair also had to exorcise some negatives after a season he began with high hopes but ended
with him 172nd on the money list. He missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in its seven
seasons.

He said he had to quickly adjust his mindset after the disappointment. He tied for 11th in the
first Finals tournament two weeks ago in Fort Wayne, Ind., but missed the cut last week in
Davidson, N.C.

“I don’t want to be here — I’d rather be in the Playoffs — but it is what it is and you just
kind of got to take it for what it is and want to be here,” said O’Hair, a winner of PGA Tour
events and nearly $17 million in his tour career.

“I mean, you play on the PGA Tour for nine years and then all of a sudden you’re playing
triple-A. How would you feel? I think it’s human nature to be a little bit disappointed. But you’ve
got to get over that disappointment of having a bad year and be ready to play because these guys
are really, really good. And if you’re not here mentally, you’re just going to be stomped on.”